This Thursday, Young MA will be performing for U of T students at the Velvet Underground as part of the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU)’s Frost Week.
Former UTSU Vice-President Campus Life Stuart Norton, who organized the Frost Week concert prior to his resignation, wrote to The Varsity, “We went with Young M.A because she’s an artist that has a lot going on. She is committed to crafting her music and her identity as an artist in her own way, and she’s definitely on the brink of a come up.”
“[The UTSU] had been working with a few different agents and looking at quotes for their artists,” said Norton. “Ultimately we decided we wanted to pursue her as a potential artist. From there we reached out directly to her agent and began the booking process.”
Born in Brooklyn, Young MA has been rapping since the age of nine, and is best known for her 2016 summer hit “OOOUUU,” which currently has over 144 million streams on Spotify. The song has been remixed by artists including French Montana, A$AP Ferg, and Remy Ma, and has been referenced by Beyoncé.
Young MA’s music is catchy, fluent, clever, and showcases vital parts of her identity as a queer black rapper. “I held in being sexually attracted to women for so long that once I got that out of me, the music became easy,” she told Vogue in 2016.
Young MA will perform at the Velvet Underground on January 18 at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $25 plus fees.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misidentified the location of the concert as the Danforth Music Hall. The Varsity regrets the error.
